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Being truly creative is both as much a mystery as it is contradicting.

And if you’ve read my other post on the matter you’ll know that it is certainly not being found, nurtured, or resulting from the current education systems we have in place.

So where does it actually come from?

People who are creative may be so based on a pre-dispositioned personality type; however creativity can vastly change given things like environment, situations, and context.

Typically when a creative mind tries to consciously reaches into its very depths to yank out something creative — nothing appears. And it is usually when one least expects it when true creativity and ideas surface — seemingly out of nowhere.

You may know this as a “Eureka!” type moment. Just as the famous Greek scholar Archimedes yelled out after he stepped into a bathtub — only to find the bathwater had risen up as his body has sunk in.

Neuroscientist’s that study what causes true creativity are still in complete confusion regarding its true source. It’s not quite as simple as what typically we have thought; where simply left brained individuals tend to be logical; while right brained individuals tend to be the creative ones.

In fact studies are showing that it is much more complex than that. Creativity is manifested from a plethora of cognitive functions, neurotransmitters, and different areas from both sides of the brain.

However, psychology research on creativity has shown to shed at least some light of what could make someone more likely to be creative. For example a study that has produced some positive results in showing this was one done on motivation.

But this wasnt just motivation in general, but rather a specific type of motivation. You see these studies have shown that one is likely to be more creative when his motivations for doing so are out of personal passion for a selfless or intrinsic motive.
Alternatively the same study has shown that when one is trying to be creative in the hopes of becoming famous, rich, being greedy, or selfish — true creativity is much less likely to occur.

All in all it seems like we may never truly know for sure where creativity comes from. But that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t keep actively trying — or not trying — to be creative.

Remember to keep looking, keep listening, keep asking questions, and most of all let your intuition and passion due the talking.

And for more ways on how you can be creative, you can check out my article about unlocking your creativity. Which goes over some essential tips to better open and prep your mind for creative thoughts and ideas.

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Texting is the newest form of communication between people that has taken the world by storm over the past decade or so. It has become so popular that adults and even the elderly are doing it on a continuous daily basis.

Thus, since texting between people has become so popular, it is now a crucial aspect of male to female flirting and pair bonding. Failing to learn how to text a woman properly can lead to symptoms of loneliness, dateless, and generally not a good time for you.

Like anything in life getting creative through thinking outside the box, being different than the norm, or simply applying psychological tactics will help you ensure text message success.

Now lets delve into some of these creative and psychological factors:

1) Mirror Her:

Mirroring in essence is matching a persons mannerisms, tonality, body language, etc to build rapport faster. However, it has to be done rather stealthily to not get noticed by the other person. The idea is for them to subconsciously pick up on your “mirroring”, and feel more rapport with you, but not actually know why or even realize it. In every day situations you would typically accomplish this by matching the women’s body language. However, when texting a girl you cannot do that, and therefore you want to match things like her texting style. For example if she uses a certain emoticon frequently you can also use that frequently as well. If she uses dots after sentences you can use stuff like that as well. Pretty soon she will start to enjoy your conversations more without realizing why, and this is what you want.

2) The Tease

Teasing is absolutely essential when flirting with a girl over text. In fact you should be flirting pretty much throughout your entire conversation with a women unless it is of a serious matter. Teasing is a pre-cursor to flirting, so it is just one of — but a crucial tactic for building attraction. When you are teasing a women it should remain fun and flirty at all times. It should also be light hearted and never too serious. Using nicknames, full names, and roleplaying can be great teasing tactics to use in your next texting encounter.

3) Spontaneity and Acting Aloof

This is another crucial factor when attracting someone of the opposite sex. The person who appears to be investing the least amount into the interaction, typically comes off as the least desperate or needy, and thus tends to have more power. With that in mind you should never take anything either of you say too seriously. You should have no attachment to the outcome, which in turn will make what you say come off as more spontaneous and aloof. By being spontaneous you are coming across rather “care-free” to the woman, which can be a refreshment from the typical clingy and needy male.

Remember to add some of these tips in your next text message conversation and you will surely get better results. But dont stop there, continue to do your own research and follow your own creative impulses to zest up the conversation and make it a unique and enjoyable experience for the person on the other end.

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So I’ve haven’t updated the site in a while but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been sticking to my goals for this year. If you had read my prior posts you will know that I am choosing to get my somewhat neglected body from a life of intellectual pursuits and dinner time wine and sweets back into shape. I have since lost another 5 lbs or so and am feeling a whole lot better overall. However, the hardest aspect so far as been the night time cravings from reducing carbohydrates and sugar.

After doing a little bit of nutritional research I have decided to incorporate a cheat meal (not day) once a weak as well as a refeed day. The cheat meal will be something that I particularly crave — usually pizza or fast food. I notice a lot of people tend to dedicate an entire day to “cheating”, however I feel that would be very counterproductive as I could easily destroy an entire week of dieting in a day of fast food and sweet filled meals.

The refeed day is what I had to do a little research on though. It will consist of lowering my fat intake by about 25-50% from its current daily amount, but increasing carb intake by 200-300%. The immense amount of carbs will help for recovery, glycogen and energy, while the fat reduction will help to ensure calories don’t go up too high.

So that’s about all the news for me. However since I have been doing all of this fitness stuff it has since spread to my wife as well.

In my other post you will recall that she had decided to try the tiara transformation program. Well, she got in touch with an old friend whom had been on a similar fitness and nutrition pursuit herself.

Apparently my wifes old friend Tammy had gotten herself into amazing shape using a new weight loss program called my bikini butt from http://mybikinibutt.net. From what I’ve heard its a living room friendly weight loss program for woman that also focuses on shaping the buttocks and legs through mostly lower body workouts. I think the idea is that the lower body tends to burn the most amount of calories due to the legs being some of the biggest muscles on the body. Adding to that the fact that typically woman want to accentuate this part of themselves the most; you can see why my wife has become intrigued.

So now that my wife has her new program and goal; as well as a new training partner (Tammy) that she will be exercising with. I will have to be sure to not slip up my exercise pursuits myself, or I may be the one falling behind this time.

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Societal demands have led you to revolve your life around your 9-5 job, increasing your stress, worry and problems while blunting the creative spirit inside of you. Family, occupation or academic pressure has led you block your creative passions that need to be surfaced and re-ignited.

Diversify your Cognitive Experiences:

If you are a person that always thinks standing up try doing it sitting down. To get more specific you have probably experienced, read or heard about people having various breakthrough “aha!” or “eureka!” moments at unplanned times or in unplanned situations. Such as in the shower, bath tub or grocery store. By putting your mind and body through a different stimulus or environment, it thinks and functions in a different way than before. This opens new doors in your subconscious allowing your creativity to come from a new angle.

Become More Present

Stop thinking all of the time when talking to people or walking around. Focus on keeping your mind blank at certain times while allowing the world to soak itself in. When you stop trying to think ahead or constantly trying to figure things out and just let them happen, you will be experiencing life in a new light. Creativity and humbleness will begin to flourish itself within you.

There Are No Dumb Questions

Allow yourself to ask dumb question without feeling stupid or embarrassed. We frequently avoid indulging in our curiosity or asking questions we think we should to know at risk of feeling awkward or looking dumb. Embrace the feeling of dumbness and pursue your motivations and questions. This is a doorway to becoming more creative.

Remember the Details

Pay attention to the finer details you normally don’t notice. The color of the bathroom mat, which arm you put into a shirt first when putting it on. This type of thinking can open ways to a more creative you while also improving memory. The next time you go into a restaurant try to remember everything you see around you. Who is sitting to the left, who is standing, what color is the walls, how many pictures are on the left side of the room. This will open the world around you into a new perspective and thought process.

The Artist’s Way

This book has been a big help for me and many in awakening the creative artist inside, and can be a big help for you too. Focusing on banishing your self limitations and driving out the artist within.

The 12 week program will guide you through a process of self realization and fulfillment. The book requires you to do an exercise called morning pages where you write 3 pages immediately upon waking. As boring as it sounds, its actually not and people love and continue to do this long after the book is over.

The second step is artist dates which forces you to do fun and creative things that you love at least once a week. Most people are constantly waiting for something good to happen to them. This forces you to take action and reap the enjoying rewards you desire.

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Here is a great speech by former university professor Ken Robinson. It touches on the negative effects the education system has on the creativity of children and adults on a global scale.

The message to take away from this great speech is how the education system is effectively teaching people out of their own creativity.

That the creative studies like art, dance, the performing arts, etc, should be treated as equally important as math, science and literacy.

However, when a child does not conform to the typical mold that the education system has laid out, rather than nurturing the creative side to expand and flourish, we are penalizing it with consequences and ostracism.

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If you have read my previous post you will know that this old dog is getting himself back in shape to try and keep up with the younger ones. I have so far been seeing great results on my current workout and nutrition regiment. So far I am down about 8lbs, and overall feeling quite a bit more peppy lately. Getting in shape is also great for a creative mind, sometimes we must simply stop learning in order to learn more. A paradox of such that seems to deem true in my case.

I will admit I probably could have lost a bit more weight if I was being stricter. Giving up a lot of carbs was quite difficult the first week, however that has since passed. My real weakness is still wine drinking and deserts. I have been known to have one glass too many or one slice of key lime pie too much.

I will post on that later as I am still in the early stages of my yearly fitness goals. However, this post was geared towards my wifes recent ambitions, that I may have played a contagious role in.

It seems my resolution of achieving a fitter and healthier future has since inspired my wife to take a similar route. Initially she thought the whole thing of me getting into shape was utter bollocks, she expected me to quit within a week (how supportive).

As she ended up seeing my small but steady results and my determination to see this through, I ended up inspiring her to go down a similar path.

Me and my wife have been eating more healthy lately, since I have been following a paleo inspired diet that I discussed in my other post, my wife has slowly transitioned into my nutrition plan without even realizing it.

However, she was not so keen on adapting to my male dominant greek god workout program. We needed to find her a program geared around female weight loss. After a bit of digging around through various workout programs offered online we ended up settling with the tiara transformation system. The program fits her needs perfectly as it is a female weight loss program created by Tiara Cameron a single mom turned personal trainer, turned fitness model. With a body I’m sure my wife wouldn’t argue with.

So far she is in the early stages of the fitness program but I feel she is enjoying about as much as one can. I can only hope that my determination will rub off on her, or who knows maybe her’s will rub off on me. Either way having a partner in crime is sometimes better then doing things solo, which is what I have always been used too.

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I dated a dancer once who worked in various different fields of dance. She was also involved in theater and would always be wearing different outfits or using various props depending on the theme of whatever performance she had planned. It is not uncommon for people within the performing arts to wear stage props such as masks, costume contact lenses, odd clothing, accessories, etc. However, I wasn’t aware until recently that teenagers were using similar minded props and dressing up like this for public gatherings as a sort of sub-culture event.

My nephew who is in high school is a fan of the Japanese anime known as Naruto. It is an apparently very popular animated tv series originating from Japan that has also become a big hit to North American teenagers and adults alike. Seemingly based in an older time period where ninjas exist and wars between rivaling nations occur, the show is based around the adventures of the main character Naruto, a ninja from the village of the Hidden Leaf.

The other day when I saw him, he asked me if I knew where he could find a pair of Naruto contact lenses or sharingan contacts to be more specific. I admittedly told him that I had never heard of these before. To which he told me that his friends from school would dress up as characters from the show and attend these events with other like minded fans. Since I have surrounded most of the later years of my life around the various forms of the creative and performing arts he assumed I would have heard of this.

He then explained how these events would work and how they typically called the dressing up part cosplay. He was to be imitating the character known as “Itachi” , funnily enough translating to weasel in English. Itachi apparently possesses a specific uchiha bloodline ocular power known as the sharingan. We spent the better half of the afternoon looking through online stores to find the Itachi mangekyou sharingan and ended up buying http://narutocontactlenses.com/mangekyou-sharingan-contacts/. They were reasonably priced in comparison to other stores and he was happy that he had found his costume contact lenses for his event.

He then went on to show me pictures of people participating in the events and I was surprised at the amount of detail and work some people were putting into their costumes. A lot of people are even sewing and making their own costumes from scratch rather than buying them from a store. While I am personally not a fan of this show and probably never will be, it is a nice sight to see. It just goes to show you that creativity is everywhere and I am pleasantly surprised and happy that he is involved in hobbies as creative as this.

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I have spent many hours throughout my life expanding my mind through my ever increasing imagination and creativity. However, in that time I have not given my body and health the same enthusiastic attention. The decade of late night wine drinking and dinner outings has caught up to me, though not overweight I am not quite the spring chicken I used to be.

Therefore, I have decided to take on a new project this year of improving my overall health through planned diet and exercise. My nephew has recommended a new muscle building program known as the greek god program from http://greekgodprogram.net. The name itself piqued my interest, but I always need to see a review or research on a product before I buy it. After reading a few reviews and coupling that with my nephew’s recommendation, I bit the bullet and decided this was going to be my plan of action.

Like most I have attempted to get into shape before and failed. I feel this was a result of improper planning on my part rather than just laziness or lack of motivation. So this year I had decided to have everything planned out ahead of time so there should be no excuse for falling off the wagon. With the addition of my new and unexpected purchase to this mindset I have adapted, the path to success should be even easier.

On top of that though, I still will be logging my nutritional intake as well as my exercise regiment into a book accordingly. I feel if everything is laid out on paper in front of me I will have a specific goal to meet, exceed or match every week. Making failure a lot harder to achieve than my prior attempts.

I will be digging into the book more and seeing what type of diet it recommends. However, I was planning to opt for a more Paleo like diet focusing primarily on lowering my carbohydrate intake, and most likely increasing fats. I will definitely need to cut back on my wine drinking as well as sweets though. The real culprit, and what needs to be avoided is sugars rather than fats, which is a common misconception for newbies to weight loss. Though I too have been known to be guilty of this. Constantly indulging in too many delicious sugary snacks, while thinking fat was the enemy.

Alas with my new mindset and equipment I am hoping for the best this year.